Update 4:15 PM
According to Marc Carig, Mets right-hander Matt Harvey underwent an MRI at the Hospital for Special Surgery this morning for an undisclosed reason and WFAN’s Mike Francesa is reporting that Matt Harvey has a partially torn UCL.
Sandy Alderson held a press conference and said that Matt Harvey will likely be shutdown for the rest of the season and that Tommy John Surgery has not been ruled out.
They will wait 7-10 days for the swelling to go down so they can get a better MRI image and then the decision of whether or not to have surgery will be made by Harvey.
Alderson said that “Harvey has been treated for forearm soreness for sometime”. He doesn’t know when Matt first experienced the soreness in his forearm, but he was being treated and there was no elbow pain.
“My understanding is that after he came out of his start against the Tigers, the pain in the forearm was more severe than it had been.”
“I wouldn’t expect Harvey to pitch the rest of the season.”
“This is not a career-ending injury under any stretch of the imagination. This is what many successful teams must go through from time to time, and for us to expect not to have to go through it from time to time would be unrealistic. The news was tough today. No question about it. And the full implication of it probably has not yet been felt. But we have to respond, and we will.”
“At least we have a leg up on responding to this. Luckily we have depth at starting pitching in the minors.”
They are going to take the conservative approach. “If we could avoid surgery, we will, but that situation will need to be monitored.”
This sucks…
This is what I’ve discussed many times before and even this morning below…
If a key player is sore, you shut them down, take images, and don’t send them out on that field until you get the all clear….
Last week I did a mailbag asking why do the Mets baby their pitchers…. This is why…
This is why we posted five days ago that a 6-man rotation would be a great idea for our very young rotation, both now and in 2014…
Damn… My worst fear has been realized for this kid…
Original Post 8:00 AM
While no pitcher should ever beat themselves up over losing a game to the powerful lineup of the Detroit Tigers, Matt Harvey did after the Mets’ 3-0 loss on Saturday. After all, having the greatest hitter on the planet in Miguel Cabrera, and then surrounding him with names like Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez among others, would be a tall task even for Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver in their primes.
Of course there was also the small matter of Harvey’s opposing mound rival, Max Scherzer, who improved his record to 19-1 while striking out 11 Mets that day.
Harvey gave up a career-high 13 hits against Detroit, as the Mets lost for the fifth time in his last six starts. If the Mets had put up a four-spot, this conversation might be moot. But maybe not… The Mets ace admitted to feeling fatigued after the game…
“I’m getting pretty tired, but so is everybody,” Harvey said. “You have to work through it and you have to deal with it. It’s a long season. You have to figure out how to get things done. My performance the last couple of starts has been pretty terrible. I’ve got to work through it and get better.”
“I couldn’t a throw a slider for a strike. I couldn’t really throw it that well at all. It’s a pitch that I need. The last couple of starts I haven’t had it. I figure everybody is going to go through a stretch there where you’ve got to battle through some fatigue and some discomfort. It’s a long season and you’ve got to push through it.”
Harvey has already logged 178.1 innings of work this season and is still on track to make another seven starts if he stays on his current schedule. However, don’t expect that to happen.
Terry Collins understands the time has come to start curbing Harvey’s workload and that might include skipping a turn in the rotation, even though he’s the one player that can still fill Citi Field when he’s on the mound.
“You’re trying to put people in the seats out there, and having Matt Harvey out there every five days helps us,” Collins said. “But we still know down the road, we have to keep this guy healthy.”
Harvey has a 2.27 ERA this season and currently leads the league with 191 strikeouts. However, the kid is right, and it’s obvious that the grind of his first full season is having a direct effect on his performance. You can see it in his velocity, you can see it in the lack of late life, and you can see it in his command.
At 24, the big righthander has already surpassed his career high in innings, already eight more than he had last season combined between the majors and minors.
“You’ve got a guy who is one of the best competitors I’ve ever been around who thoroughly wants to pitch nine innings every night he’s out there,” manager Terry Collins said Sunday.
“Yet you’ve got to take into consideration what’s the best interest of the club, the team at the time, and the organization down the road. How to get this guy through it?”
With the Mets only days away from mathematical elimination, the team must look at the bigger picture and when your ace tells you he is fatigued and tired – you must take note and action. Harvey is not one who would readily admit how overworked he feels unless it has reached an intolerable level.
It’s time to back off… Forget the Harvey Days and lets focus on the Harvey Years… Beginning with 2014…
